


want to trust

by when_the_planets_align



Category: RWBY
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, idk how tf to tag this lmfao im sorry, im thinking like maybe a month before?? less?, ruby and nora bond meaningfully for the first time, sometime close to the fall, the girls are soft, um, yeah it takes place at beacon, you CAN take this as romantic sugar rush but that wasn't the original intention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/when_the_planets_align/pseuds/when_the_planets_align
Summary: When you grow up being stabbed in the back by every girl you knew, it gets hard to open up to the girls around you, no matter how badly you want to trust them.Maybe, though, it's possible for Nora to open up.
Relationships: Ruby Rose & Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	want to trust

The brisk air of autumn made each inhale sting Nora’s lungs, but not in an unpleasant way. Here in Vale, the air was clean due to air pollution laws the kingdom was very strict with. It was a pleasant shift from the murky, stale air of Mistral, air she’s had to breathe most of her life.

The small ginger sat alone in the courtyard, silently swinging her legs as she sat on a bench. It wasn’t often that she was found alone like this, quiet and thinking, but the sporadic lightning-bolt  _ did,  _ in fact, need her alone time every now and again.

She’d been wrapped up in her head a lot recently, and this time she couldn’t excessively talk it out to Ren as she would usually do. So, it was alone time for Nora Valkyrie. 

Her eyes followed a leaf that floated down and landed right in front of her left foot, its color a muted yellow. A part of her wanted to reach out and stomp it, to hear and feel the crunch of decay beneath her foot. But she didn’t. Instead, she just sat and stared at it, the moistness of the pavement seeping into the leaf.

Nora really did enjoy the simpler parts of life. Growing up losing everything, not knowing if you’d even still be alive the next day - hell, the next  _ hour _ \- kinda forced you to take note of the small happenings and appreciate them. 

A gust of cold, wet air slapped Nora in the face, jutting her out of her head. The air stung her cheeks and lips, and she could feel her nose begin to run. She smiled, rubbing her hand across her cheeks and mouth in an attempt to warm them. 

She wasn’t sure why she loved these moments so much, especially since she was more of a summer girl. But there was something about how  _ clean  _ and crisp the air smelt, the way you could feel every breath, as if you were inhaling liquid icicles. To  _ feel  _ such things put Nora’s mind at ease, surprisingly. She took a few more deep breaths, following the icy air down her throat. It was the perfect distraction from her constantly-running mind.

Again, she was sharply pulled out of her head at the sound of footsteps this time. She turned towards the disruption to find Ruby struggling with her bag, making sounds of protest as whatever she tried to shove in it wouldn’t budge. The young brunette was headed away from Nora, and from the way her focus was glued to her bag, could’ve easily walked through the courtyard without even knowing Nora was there. And Nora was about to let her, but some part of her raised her arm and shouted Ruby’s name. A friend to keep her company wouldn’t hurt, afterall. 

Ruby startled in her tracks, dropping her bag and wildly turning around until her eyes landed on the one who called her name. She let out an excited “oh!” before collecting her stuff and jogging over to where Nora was seated. 

Smiling at the younger huntress-in-training’s silly antics, Nora scooted to the left a bit to allow Ruby some room to sit. 

Plopping down next to her, Ruby huffed happily and threw her things down in front of her, giving up on trying to shove the assortment of papers and binders into the bag. 

“Hey Nora! Sorry about the mess, Doctor Oobleck  _ loves  _ to assign lots of papers,” the cheery girl grimaced, and was clearly still out of breath. She sucked in another lungful of air before continuing, “What brings you out here? I would’ve figured you’d be out with your team today.”

Oh. That. Pyrrha and Jaune were heading out to Vale for the rest of their day, and offered for Nora to come. Obviously, she declined, not wanting to get in the way of whatever weird shift in their relationship that was currently happening. And Ren was studying, hard, something Nora knew better than to interrupt. So it left her alone, which she was both pleased and saddened by. 

“Oh, y’know, just… sitting,” the ginger cringed at her own words, wondering what the  _ hell  _ kind of answer that was. Ruby and her were still in this weird grey area of ‘friends-because-we-both-have-friends-who-are-friends.’ To be completely honest, Nora had always found it difficult to bond with other girls her age. Growing up, the only real friend she had was Ren, who was not a girl. All the other “friends” she had either used her for one favorable part of her personality, only ever spoke to her out of necessity, or just downright hated her. Over time, she learned how to act in a certain way to lessen the pain, and learned how to avoid girls in any given situation. Somewhere along the lines, it became learning how to avoid all people her age. 

So Nora didn’t entirely trust Ruby, despite how badly she wanted to. It wasn’t like she did this willingly, constantly blocking and avoiding people to keep herself intact. From day one, she’d always been infatuated with Ruby and her bright, cheery demeanor. To see a soul so simple and kind was nothing like she was used to. Nora had been forced to interact with many people her age since her arrival at Beacon Academy, and Ruby especially had been nothing but sweet and loving to her. She wanted to trust her, wanted to love her to the ends of the earth, to look in those shining silver orbs and see home, but she couldn’t. Not yet, at least. 

“Uh-huh,” Ruby nodded, giving her a look of doubt. She seemed to understand that something was up, but it was best not to ask. 

The girls fell into an awkward silence, and Nora’s skin burned with urgency to break it. She liked Ruby, if that much wasn’t obvious. Really, really liked her, and she so desperately wanted to  _ trust  _ her, to tell her anything without a voice in the back of her mind screaming that she was gonna leave her, to hurt her. To humiliate her. Trying to find the words in situations like this proved impossible, and she craved to speak of something with substance, and not to ramble endlessly as the other party only half-listened. She wanted people to be engaged in the conversation.

Luckily for Nora, she didn’t have to break the silence, as Ruby piped up with, “So, why here? In this weather? I thought you enjoyed warmer weather as opposed to this… mugginess.”

Shocked that Ruby actually said something and didn’t walk away, Nora giggled before responding shyly. 

“Yeah, I do prefer the summertime. Nothing will ever beat the heat of the sun. But there’s also something really nice about the cold and humid weather, I don’t know. The sting, the way you can’t escape the cold no matter how hard you try, and it always  _ lingers  _ on your skin when you find someplace warm. It gets annoying after a while, but I enjoy it right now.”

Nora was about to slap a hand over her mouth and apologize for rambling, the one thing she didn’t want to do, but instead she was left dumbfounded by the way Ruby’s eyes had lit up and a small, open smile hung on her lips. She looked genuinely intrigued and even  _ entranced  _ by what she had said, and Nora couldn’t help but relish in the sight she was so used to never seeing. 

Her shock was further deepened when Ruby let out an exasperated laugh, saying, “Wow. That was really… poetic.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess it was, huh?” Nora stumbled out, not knowing what to say or how to react. Her senseless, out of order rambling was enjoyed? Sure, it wasn’t nearly as lengthy or sporadic as some of her ramblings, but her point still stands. And someone had listened to every word, had understood every word, and most of all  _ enjoyed  _ every word. 

Another silence befell them, but this time it was comfortable. Ruby very quickly broke it though, as she softly spoke up. 

“I don’t think it’s any secret fall is my favorite season, for all the same reasons you listed and more. Though, I’ve never heard it explained the way you did,” Ruby lifted her head and met Nora’s eyes, giving a soft smile, one Nora was sure she’d never seen before. Her cheeks and lips were flushed red due to the cold, her nose rosy. Where her skin wasn’t red with cold, it was patchy and pink. Together, they made her silver eyes pop by making the color of the iris darker and the whites of her eyes brighter. Nora was sure the cold had done similar things to her face. 

Another gust of wind came before any of the girls could say another word. They watched as the strong wind carried leaves off their branches and land scattered about on the ground. 

“And this is another thing!” Nora chirped up over the wind, a steady breeze settling in. “The wind can now affect literally everything! This can’t happen in spring or summer!”

Ruby laughed with her in agreement. The sun came out from behind the clouds, glistening against the soaked environment, and Nora had to squint her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. 

The breeze ruffled through their hair, Ruby have to move the pieces that flunked in her face. Facing each other again, the new light of the sun managed to make Ruby’s eyes even brighter, her features more sharp and the redness in her skin pop. 

“Yeah. Fall’s pretty great,” Ruby breathed, sniffling as her nose began to run. 

“I still think summer is better,” Nora teased. Ruby mocked offense, throwing her hands dramatically over her heart as gasping. 

“It  _ so  _ isn’t!” The two girls erupted in laughter, holding their stomachs and covering their mouths in an attempt to suppress their giggles. 

Regaining themselves, Ruby suggested they go play video games in her team’s dorm until both their team’s returned. Nora happily obliged, more than willing to spend more time with Ruby. 

“Just a fair warning before we get there, I’m not very good with… technology as a whole,” she blushed, suddenly very shy and awkward. 

Much to her her delight, though, Ruby’s eyes lit up as she bounced a bit on her heels. “That’s fine! Great even! I can show you all the controls and share some tricks, especially to the Fighting Huntsman series!” 

The sudden warmth of the building stung Nora’s face, and the prickly cold lingered as she made her way up to team RWBY’s dorm and sat on the floor. She watched as Ruby shuffled through a box filled with game after game, until she wrapped her hand around one, pulling it out with an ‘aha!’ 

“Fighting Huntsman II: The Second Wave! It’s the best one in the series, don’t let Yang tell you otherwise!” Giggling and putting it in the console, she began to ramble off the simple controls to Nora, who vaguely picked up on it. 

Adjusting herself next to Nora, the game started and Ruby helped her through all the little hiccups she made with the controls and whatnot. For as long as she’s been at Beacon, she still wasn’t used to using and having scrolls. It was such a foreign device to her, and she wondered if she’d ever get used to it. Ren caught on pretty quickly, at least understanding the realm of technology far better than Nora ever could. Her teammates were very understanding of their situation, even if they never gave the full details. 

After a few practice rounds, the girls jumped headfirst into the game and soon all sense of time was lost. Tapping away at the scroll, Nora could almost believe she had lived a normal childhood, and playing this game next to Ruby was something she’d been doing for ages. Ruby made it all feel natural, and every simple hiccup Nora made, she brushed off with ease and never once criticized her for. 

Nora felt safe knowing she’d found a home in Ruby, finally. 


End file.
